Love of the Fifth
by Kindled Chime
Summary: She realised that she spent most of her time in Konoha either with Naruto or waiting for him to return... And now she knows why.


_Right then. This will be the first of many relatively short ficlets about Naruto and possible pairings. Just thought it would be fun to try, ya know? So here we go. Hope you enjoy and don't flame me if you don't like the pairing. Flame me for something else instead._

_ Me no own, you no sue. _

**Love of the Fifth.**

"Hokage-sama!"

The blonde woman spun around wide eyed and saw the homeless nin descending upon her, his long chakra infused katana held above his head in preparation for a downwards strike that would bisect her effortlessly. Time seemed to slow as the blade closed, too near for her to even think about slipping out of it's path. Even a Kawarimi no Jutsu would take too long to perform - and it wasn't really her specialty anyway. Although her strength was 'monstrous' according to Jiraya, her speed was merely fantastic. And that would not be enough right now. She could see the sun flare reflecting off the gray blade as it descended, shining into her hazel eyes to blind her. Not that it was necessary anymore.

She heard the shouts around her, calls of panic from her Anbu guards, all shouting 'Hokage-sama' in terror. She had only just finished dispatching the five nins that had surrounded her though now she could see that they seemed to be distracting her for this moment, for the sixth to use their sacrifice to his advantage. Seeing as most were dead she hoped it was worth it to them.

The blade neared, close enough now for her to see the dull reflection in the blade of those around her. Jiraya, springing forward even though it was pointless and they both knew it. The most he would be able to do was unleash hell on her killer. The masked Anbu guards, some still in battle, some with arms outstretched in the horror of being about to witness their Hokage's death. Shizune, screaming her name and tears welling in her eyes, knowing that there was nothing her skills as a medical ninja could do after the sword cut her leader and friend in half. And Naruto... she couldn't see Naruto anywhere. Her heart clenched suddenly at the thought that he had died already and that she had outlived him, even if it was only by a few seconds. The last thing she had ever wanted.

There he was. A blur of garish orange on the blade's polished surface let the frozen woman know that the young man was still alive and would at least outlive _her_ even if it was only by a few seconds. The thing she had begun to desire the most. It occurred to her then that the blur was large, blocking the sight of all the others rather than being beside them - then the sensation of movement, flying through the air and the harsh impact of the soil under her as she skidded to a halt.

"OBA-CHAN!" And time restarted. A crimson rainbow of Naruto's blood arched through the air and Tsunade gasped seeing the damage he had suffered to protect her. His left arm was sliced to the bone from his shoulder to his wrist and his face bore a feral snarl as he whipped his right palm forward with a roar of anger. The soundless concussion as his hand struck the ninja left the masked nin seemingly unharmed but the sword dropped from suddenly boneless fingers anyway, landing in the soft grass at his feet with a gentle thud. Slowly the defeated nin slumped into his knees, his body still hidden by Naruto.

A harsh cry broke the silence of the glade and it was a few seconds before she realised it was her own. Lighter than air she sprung to her feet and blitzed towards the young man and the enemy that knelt in front of him, howling in fury. She watched as Naruto staggered to the side and collapsed to the floor, revealing what he had not been able to see before - a perfectly round hole in the nin's chest where he had been struck, by the Rasengan or by something else. He was most certainly dead. That didn't stop her wreaking her revenge for the young ninja of the Leaf by spinning her heal into the dead nin's face at close to the speed of sound, nearly decapitating him and sending his body crashing into the trees to the side. Quickly she stooped next to the injured man, seeing his eyes slip into and out of focus because of the pain. Immediately she slammed her palms together and formed a blaze of azure chakra, before thrusting it into his arm. Almost instantly the flesh began to knit, flowing together like water and resealing. The sight had used to nauseate her the first time she saw it performed, but now she was almost in tears of gratitude for the healing jutsu she had forced herself to learn, despite the roiling of her stomach. Soon the flesh was seamless and unmarked, healed fasted than the Kyuubi could unleash it's limitless chakra. Tsunade let the breath she had been holding loose, sounding ragged in her own ears. The dull rough ache in her throat and chest told her she hadn't been breathing for far longer than she should.

Looking up at the crowd approaching rapidly, her eyes widened and her jaw dropped silently in absolute shock. Behind where the dead ninja had knelt the forest had been churned into a swath of absolute destruction. Trees were shattered and splintered and the earth had been scarred, as if a plough the size of Garabunta's knife had swept through it.

_'This.. this is what he did.. to protect me?'_ The force used staggered her. Whatever he had done had ripped through the ninja like nothing and decimated the forest beyond. That amount of power in a one handed technique that didn't use hand seals, nearly rivaled the Sannin levels. The initial power of the Chidori and the aftermath of the Rasengan, times ten. She had no idea he was capable of such strength. The first of the Anbu arrived at her side and inquired after her health. She waved her away, absently muttering that she was fine. The rest had evidently just noticed what she had seen. One masked ninja dropped his knives in surprise and Jiraya stood with his jaw hanging around his knees, pointing at the wreckage and stuttering incredulously. It would have nearly been funny if Naruto hadn't gone through so much to deliver the blow in the first place. It seemed his teacher wasn't aware he could muster such force either.

Tsunade turned back to the young man, who still lay on his side. She grinned and prepared to chastise him for being stupid and getting in her way, until she found him still unconscious. The grin fell off her face immediately. The amount of chakra used in her healing jutsu should have woken him after it's use. Not to mention his rapid healing, resultant of the demon fox inside him. She was making the hand seals for an all purpose scan when Shizune arrived at her side, breathless. The young woman knelt beside Naruto and lifted his head, knowing what her mistress intended to do. Placing it on her lap she tried to make him comfortable, even in his unconscious state. His long blond hair scratched against her legs and hovered over his eyes, displaced slightly by the forehead protector he always wore.

Placing her hands on the boy's chest, Tsunade delved into him using her chakra to see into his body and searched for foreign bodies. She bit her lip hard, drawing blood, when his chakra pathways were exposed. Instead of the vibrant blue - or occasional violent orange - of Naruto's chakra a putrid purple floated through his chakra veins. Jiraya stepped to her side and grunted softly, examining the blade that the ninja had dropped.

"I won't be able to tell you for certain seeing as his face is pretty much gone, but this weapon looks like Hidiro Takaseshi's. A ninja whose minor village was destroyed by the Cloud about a decade ago. He specialised in sword work and chakra poisoning." Tsunade looked up, feeling her face heat slightly at the reference to her pointless vengeance on the dead nin as the white haired Sannin spoke. She watched as he carefully wiped his thumb across the blade and then licked it tentatively. His frown confirmed her fears.

"He was poisoned?" Jiraya nodded absently and threw the katana behind him without thought, where it nearly decapitated an Anbu member and ended it's flight up to the middle of it's curved blade into a tree.

"Yes. The poison is nothing serious, it will work it's way through the boy's system in a few days. It was meant to incapacitate, not to kill. He'll go through a fever and perhaps some delusional phases, but after that he'll be fine. All he needs is rest." Tsunade breathed a sigh of relief and heard it echoed by Shizune at her side. "The boy saw it coming. He was sprinting across the field before the guy even jumped. That's the only reason he got here in time."

The boy. It was what Jiraya had taken to calling Naruto in counter to being referred to as the 'perverted hermit'. Their shouting matches were always fun to watch, almost as much fun as she had being in one with him. In the years since his return, she had spent more and more time with the boy - the young man. He and Jiraya had become her unofficial bodyguards, accompanying her on trips and visits. Which was why they were with her today and which was why she was still alive.

Tsunade sat next to Naruto, as he lay silently in the futon by her crossed legs, reading by candle light. The sun had set hours ago. She had made it clear as soon as they arrived in Konoha that she would be overseeing the injured ninja's recovery personally. She had told the advisors that she considered it her duty to watch him recover after he had risked his life for hers. One of the Anbu had the temerity to say it was Naruto's duty and responsibility to sacrifice his life for his Hokage. She had nearly thrown the man out the window. But Jiraya had gotten there first. That had convinced any dissenters that she was not going to change her mind. She thought on her nearly violent reaction to the masked ninja's words. The truth was she didn't want it to be just because of duty. There were few people in the village who would give their lives for hers without hesitation if she was not Hokage. Jiraya, Shizune, some of Naruto's friends that she had become close to as she grew to know them... and Naruto himself. She was glad that she even had that many. She could have researched a way to cure chakra poisoning, since she did not know one of the top of her head, but the white haired Sanin had said that by the time she found it he would be better anyway, so there was no point in worrying. She absently turned a page in the book she was reading, realising that she had read the same line a dozen or so times.

The pallet had been set up in the room next to her office and the most important of the paperwork she needed to review was shifted with her. Her work hadn't been disturbed much, except by Naruto's teammates, and her own rambling thoughts. The rest of his unofficial team had arrived about half an hour after they had set him up in the room, which meant it was about forty-five minutes after they had arrived in the village. Her own apprentice, Sakura had apparently spread the word. The ten other members had arrived together. Since their times as genin together they had all grown and changed, but not much. The rookie nine, plus Neji, Tenten and Rock Lee. They were always together unless they were on missions. Some people had begun calling them the Ju-Ichi - The Eleven.

"You have so many friends Naruto..." Tsunade started, when she found herself staring at the unconscious man and stroking the whisker marks on his face. Later his teacher and Gai had visited. She had heard them through the door talking to the Anbu, Kakashi's bored tone not quite hiding the concern he felt for his student, followed swiftly by Gai's loud proclamation that Naruto's 'burning youth and passion' would aid in his recovery. Tsunade was certain she heard the soft 'ting' echoing in the silent corridor of Gai's patented teeth shine. She was also fairly certain she heard the Anbu members at the door sweatdrop and Kakashi's long suffering sigh. She snapped back to the present and realised that she had not actually stopped stroking his face as she had intended to.

Slowly, trying to ignore the emptiness she felt, she withdrew her hand. She remembered when he had returned from his training with the male Sanin. He had walked through the gates to Konoha with a wide grin on his face, called her an old woman and said she was looking her age. She also remembered him re-entering the village a minute or two later nursing the bump on his head she had given him when she knocked him back out the gates in anger. He had grinned and told her it was good to be home and she had smiled.

She remembered him staggering through the gates with his companions and Sasuke slung over his shoulder and collapsing at her feet. All he had been able to say before he slipped out of consciousness was that she looked worse than he did. She had thrown him over the walls of Konoha as soon as he had recovered a few days later. She remembered him waking up later, the same day he had collapsed and the first thing he asked was whether Sasuke was all right. She had never gotten the details out of any of them about what had happened the second time they had been sent to retrieve Uchiha Sasuke and succeeded. Naruto had said it was enough that Sasuke was with them again and grinned away her questions. Time had passed since then. He was eighteen now and had lost the puppy fat that had made his face round when he was younger.

It occurred to the blonde woman that most of her time at Konoha was spent either with Naruto or waiting for him to return. He never seemed far from her thoughts. She didn't even bother to be surprised at finding her hand sifting through his hair. It had grown longer in the time he was away. Nothing like Jiraya's, but still midway down his back. He tied it back mostly into a lose ponytail and let the bangs fall over his eyes, over his forehead protector. His trademark orange pants and jacket remained, but the jacket was left open more often than not now and on his arms and legs bandages had been wrapped for added protection. Right now he was just about naked under the blanket.

Tsunade's hazel eyes traveled down to his right palm, her own hand lifting it, brushing her fingers across it absently. They hadn't noticed the damage to his hand until they had arrived at the village. The skin cracked and seeping crimson blood, burned badly. Whatever he had done to the nin had required more chakra than he could handle without hurting himself. The skin was whole now, thanks to his quick healing, rather than one of her jutsu's after Jiraya had stopped her and told her there wasn't much point her bothering since it would be gone soon enough. Shizune slipped into the room and deposited a tray with tea on it and withdrew quickly and silently, seeing how occupied her mistress was with the man before her.

Tsunade hadn't even noticed. He was the only on to call her oba-chan. He had shouted it during the battle and it had been the one shout to reach her heart. Everyone called her Hokage-sama. Jiraya called her Tsunade because they were old friends. Shizune called her Tsunade-sama in public, because even as close as they were Shizune understood that formality was needed. He called her oba-chan. He was the only one who dared call her an old woman. He was the only one who called her anything and used the suffix 'chan'. An insult and a gift in the same words.

Her gaze snapped back into focus and she gasped finding his hand hovering in front of her face. He was awake. He gently brushed his fingers against her cheek and mumbled something. His bright sea blue eyes were barely open and Tsunade remembered what Jiraya had said about him being delirious for a while. She leant closer to hear him and strangely into his hand as well. His palm was pressed against her face now and it felt warm. He was looking at her drowsily, from under his blond bangs, that lay without his forehead protector to hold them back.

"...Tsunade-chan..." She froze, wide eyed. "...bet you were even more beautiful when you were my age, huh?..." The woman felt herself shaking and wasn't sure why. She wasn't sure she wanted to stop either. "...yeah... with beautiful eyes like... you have now..." The hand fell away as the boy slipped into sleep once again, but the woman caught it her own and pressed it back into her cheek tearfully.

"Naruto-kun."

"What's up, oba-chan?" Naruto stood in her office, having just been ushered in by the Anbu outside. One of them was the one that Jiraya had introduced to the window. It was impossible to tell if he was nervous under his mask but he radiated an aura of unhappiness. Tsunade looked up at the young shinobi standing before her. He had been ordered to stay off active duty for a week to work the remainder of the poison out of his system and as such had not donned his Leaf protector today. The blonde looked down at her work momentarily, ruefully realising that she hadn't actually written anything. Her mind had kept slipping to this moment instead of concentrating on the work she should be doing.

"Hey! You changed your hair!" Tsunade leant up, barely stopping herself from self consciously touching her hair to make sure it looked right. It had been a long time since she had worn it in a high ponytail as it was now. But she wanted this to look right. She stood and stepped around the desk towards the obviously confused Naruto.

"Come with me." She walked into the side alcove of the office out onto the balcony. The roof kept the area shaded, but aside from that protection there wasn't a cloud in the sky. It was blue, like his eyes. The soft thud of his footsteps told her he had indeed followed her as she had requested, though he was making small questioning noises in his throat as he did so. She kept her back to him but she could see the pose he was in, with both arms around the back of his head and the confused face he wore at her order.

"I'm going to show you something, Naruto. It's been a while since I did this..." She trailed off softly, knowing that it was just an attempt at procrastination and avoiding doing what she said she would do. Ignoring Naruto's questions she concentrated and unleashed her chakra, letting the ethereal blue flames dance upon her limbs. She felt the skin on her hands tighten slightly and watched in dumb amusement as her breasts shrunk. She watched the bangs of her hair take on a slightly lighter shade and soon the blue fire that wreathed her body had faded. Naruto was silent and watched. Taking a deep breath and preparing herself for him to say something like telling her she still looked old - something that would hurt her even if he never knew, she turned around.

Naruto's eyes widened slightly and his arms dropped to his sides in silence. Her eyes were the same - the same liquid hazelnut brown, dancing with amusement - but the rest was subtly different. Her hair was a shade lighter. Her face rounder by the barest fraction, leaving it more heart shaped than it had been. Her chest was smaller though she was still well-endowed and her hips were more prominent under the clothes she wore. Her hair being tied up made her look much younger and the bangs framed her face the same as always. The result was a Tsunade that looked almost exactly the same but still different.

"Well, what do you think?" She had been prepared for any negative response he might have thrown at her absently, but she was not ready for silence. He stepped forward without a sound until he was only a foot away from her and she had to look up into his blue eyes.

'_How long has it been since I first noticed he was taller than me?'_ She wondered absently, feeling herself getting lost in his eyes. A grin split his face and warmed her.

"I was right, Tsunade-chan." She gasped. "You are even more beautiful. And your eyes haven't changed." She stared up at him, watching him lean into her and touch her lips softly with his own, before trying to draw back. Her hands holding fistfuls of his jacket and holding him to her made that difficult however. She kissed him softly and felt him respond to her advance. She wrapped her arms around him and felt his holding her to his body as his lips caressed hers. Eventually she broke away from him, still secure in his embrace.

"Naruto-kun?" He grinned.

"Yes, my beautiful Tsunade-chan?"

She smiled and kissed him again.

_And there you go. First of many I hope. The pairing is a bit unconventional, but I like it this way. Next up...? (Shrugs) How the hell should I know? It's not like I have a plan, y'know._

_Till laterer is now._


End file.
